Call for Papers

The 17th World Congress of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences will host a session called: “Commodifying Urban Poverty, Social Exclusion, and Marginalisation: Spatial and Social Consequences”. The conference will be held in Manchester 5-10 August 2013, but the organisation is already asking for paper proposals (the deadline is 20 July 2011). This seems a good opportunity to present on slum and poverty tourism to a wider audience. More information can be found below:

CALL FOR PAPERS: Commodifying Urban Poverty, Social Exclusion, and Marginalisation: Spatial and Social Consequences

IUAES, Manchester 5-10 August 2013

Convenors: Eveline Dürr and Rivke Jaffe

This panel seeks to investigate the effects of increasing commodification and marketable global representations of the urban poor and their particular spaces. While many cities are eager to “clean” their central spaces and move pavement dwellers, beggars, street children and other “undesirable” citizens out in order to present a favourable image to visitors and potential investors, others draw attention to marginalisation, poverty and social exclusion and market no-go areas, gang life, drug districts, slums and other poverty-ridden urban areas as tourist destinations. While these socio-spaces were previously banned from the city’s representation, they are now tentatively included as integral parts of the urban environment. Increasingly, tourists seem to be keen to move into these spaces, yet in a controlled and safe way. The consequences of these quickly expanding, globally prevalent urban practices are manifold yet have hardly been investigated empirically, much less in a comparative perspective. This panel aims to examine the ways tourism intersects with spaces of urban misery and their representation. It seeks to understand how the commodification and increasing circulation of representations of the poor and their spaces affects city imaginaries, urban space, local economies and social relations. By emphasizing actors and socio-spatial dimensions, this panel includes a performative understanding of these practices and thus goes beyond the analysis of representation strategies. What are the consequences for cities and their dwellers when poverty and decay are turned into fashionable tourist experiences? How are cities transformed by these processes and how are social relationships reconfigured in these new spaces of encounter? Who actually benefits when social inequality becomes part of the city’s spatial perception and place promotion? Comparative and reflective empirical research contributes to the understanding and analysis of these fairly recent urban challenges. Papers addressing these aspects are welcome.

International Conference, Bristol Business School, Bristol, United Kingdom

9-11th December 2010

Destination Slum: The production and consumption of poverty in travel and tourism

Slums (that includes favelas, townships and other notations as well) have long enticed popular imagination. They have been scandalised and fought, bulldozed down and walled in. Equally however they were idealised and sought out as places displaying a more authentic humanity, flourishing culture and deviant, but inventive entrepreneurship. Not just the recent fascination with films like “City of God” and “Slum Dog Millionaire” shows that these desires have all but vanished. Indeed in today’s ‘planet of slums’, slum-tourism flourishes. Concurrently the concept of slum tourism is problematised in a growing body of research that addresses this controversial past time.

Paramount in reflections of slum tourism are ethical concerns and potential benefits:

Is slum tourism voyeuristic and immoral?

How are guided tours organized or composed?

What is and why is it shown?

To what extent can it provide an income and positive visibility for people in deprived areas?

What motivations and expectations did and do people have to visit slums?

Why and to what extend are slum tours considered to be ‘authentic’ forms of holidays?

Which stakeholders are involved in slum tourism and who profits most?

How does today’s slum-tourism relate to its historic predecessors and to the legacy of colonialism?

What are the geographical scopes of slum-tourism and which place does it occupy in the new mobility system?

Where does slum tourism fit in a globalised world of tourist consumption?

What is the relationship between slum tourism and issues of migration, democracy and (in)equality?

An increasing number of scholars are working on these issues on different continents. This conference aims to bring together researchers of slum and poverty tourism in urban areas, in order to stimulate an exchange of experiences and contacts. Working towards the formation of an international network of researchers the conference will also aim to be stepping stone for further co-operations and projects on the subject.

Researchers from across all disciplines are invited to submit paper proposals. They should include the title of the paper, a short abstract (max. 300 words), institutional affiliation and contact information.

The conference will take place at the University of the West of England in Bristol, UK. The fees for the 3-day event are 100 Pound Sterling (50 Pound for Graduate Students), covering conference materials, refreshments, lunch and two dinners. More information will be available on www.destinationslum.com.

Proposals should be send before September 1, 2010 to Dr. Fabian Frenzel (fabian.frenzel@uwe.ac.uk). Accepted presentations are invited to submit full papers by 15th November 2010 to be considered for publication in a special issue of an international journal (Negotiations are under way). We look forward to hearing from you.

Organising committee:

Dr. Fabian Frenzel, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol

Welcome to Slumtourism.net

Slumtourism.net aims to bring together academics and practitioners working on tourism in deprived urban and rural areas. The website hopes to provide a stepping stone for further co-operations and projects on the subject. If you are active in this field, please contact us!